Town of Helvetia

The Town of Helvetia comprises Township 24 north. Range 12 east. It is bounded on the north by the Town of Wyoming, on the east by Union, on the south by St. Lawrence, and on the west by Iola.

In 1853, Andrew Paulson and Nels Jacobson made the first settlement. A little later, John Anderson, J. Jacobson, Peter Peterson, J. H. Leuthold, Andrew Larson, C. Gilbranson, Jens Knappen, John Sorrenson, and S. Thorson came in. The first death was that of Stina, wife of A. Larson, in 1858.

The first birth was in the family of John Anderson, or that of C. Gilbranson.

The first marriage was Peter Peterson and Mary Peterson, by Rev. J. J. Hatch, of Iola, November 8, 1859.

The first school house was built in 1860, on Section 31.

The first school meeting was held November 24, 1859, in District No. 3. The town was then a part of Iola.

The first school was taught by Mrs. Bliss. The first post office was established in 1868, with Cyrus Churchill as postmaster.

The first town meeting was held in 1861, at the school house. The first town officers, elected at that meeting, were:

In 1887, A. W. Whitcomb built a saw mill and opened a store at Big Falls, on the Little Wolf River, in Section 26, Township 25 north. Range 11 east, (which township was a part of Helvetia until set off into the independent Town of Wyoming, by the County Board at the annual meeting in November, 1890.)

At Granite City, in Section 13 of Wyoming, Leuthold & Holman have developed a rich granite quarry, now reached by a four-mile spur track of the Milwaukee, Lake Shore & Western railroad. There is a store at the quarry.

J. H. Leuthold writes: "At the time Helvetia was organized two thirds of its territory was covered with pine, which has since been cut and moved to Oshkosh. It helped to build up that city; but the inhabitants of the town had very little benefit of those millions of feet of good timber. Thousands of acres of good potatoe, corn, and clover land yet lie idle here, while people are moving hundreds of miles to find homes."

How true! There is yet plenty of good land in this County, to be had cheap; but with most people the best place for settlement is just a little farther along!

The officers for 1889

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